GERMAN SOCCER A METAPHOR FOR COMING UP SHORT. HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?

German Soccer has a better history associated with it than say the Buffalo Bills do in Football, or the Minnesota Vikings, but not by much. One of the announcers in during the match between Germany and Denmark said it best. The Germans have turned the “near miss into an art form.” And so it goes again, losing to Italy in the Seormi Finals of The Euro Cup.

Joachim Löw, Germany coach had this to say.
“We lost our organisation after the first, avoidable, goal and then the second came. We made mistakes and paid the price. In the second half our team showed real heart and tried everything but could not get the goal.”

No one cares about showing heart. The Kansas City Royals have heart if not an ounce of pride. They certainly don’t lack for humility.

The team has had two great years, developed very well, won 15 international matches in a row. And come away with nothing. If you add the fact that I’m a fan of Bayern Munchen then there’s not a lot to cheer about.

Ever since the 2006 World Cup loss to Italy where the German National Team decided to take a siesta around minute 85 about sums it up. They get to the end and then it’s like someone flips the off switch.

But let’s not get carried away. Spain is dominant and the Germans would have had NO chance of beating them though there’s no way they would have let themselves be embarrassed by losing by 4 goals.

Then again, here’s Low on the loss to Italy.

“We lost today against a very strong Italy team who have a great spine and two quick strikers.”